Steven Tyler: A fascinating family tree past and present

On January 2, Steven Tyler – legendary front man of rock-and-roll band Aerosmith – announced his engagement to girlfriend, Erin Brady.

Tyler’s professional success is known to many. Aerosmith has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, while American Idol, on which he is a judge, is the top-rated American television show.

Not as well known are the details of his amazingly diverse heritage, the rich history of musicians among his ancestors or the complex structure of his current family including his partners (ex and current) and his children.

To kick things off, we’ve pulled together Tyler’s family tree.

Click on the image below (or HERE) to be taken to the actual family tree on MyHeritage.

Click to see the tree

As part of our research on Tyler’s family, we found some other fascinating information.

First, his real name is Steven Tallarico, not Tyler, but he isn’t the first person in his family to change surnames.

His paternal grandfather – born in Calabria, Italy to parents of German, Polish and Russian backgrounds – changed his last name while immigrating to the US on the trip between Europe and Ellis Island from Czarnyszewicz to Blancha. A mildly interesting fact until you realize that “Czarnyszewicz” means “black” in Polish and “Blancha” means “white.” Fascinating!

When you add his paternal roots to his maternal ancestry which includes Ukranian, Russian, English and Cherokee Indian, it’s clear that Tyler’s background is indeed unique.

Another fact is that Tyler is not the first musician in his family as detailed on the website Trendski

Steven Tyler’s musical roots can also be traced through his family tree. Music seems to be what brought his paternal grandparents together. His grandmother, Constance, was a music teacher and his grandfather, Giovanni was a musician with his own band.

He was something of a mandolin prodigy, and worked with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Naples. He also managed his little brother’s music career. Pasquale Tallarico was a teen idol before teen idols existed, and also something of a bad boy, leaving his 17-year-old wife when he became famous.

His father, Victor Tallarico, was a concert pianist and led the Vic Tallarico orchestra for many years. Steven says he grew under his father’s piano, and attributes his emotional attachment to music to this “piano upbringing.”

Moving to his modern family, Tyler has fathered four children from three separate relationships. The most famous of his children is Hollywood actress, Liv Tyler, mother of Tyler’s only grandchild, Milo.

Our search also produced other people who share the Tallarico surname on MyHeritage.com

Number of other people in the world that share the family name Tallarico

We also found some 7,000 matches for the surname Tallarico in records on FamilyLink.com

7000 Tallarico matches for the last name Tallarico in records on FamilyLink.com

It’s been an intriguing journey into Tyler’s background, but for now we’ll leave it there and wish him and his fiancé congratulations on their engagement.